| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 122: Let the lava flow |
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Posted on 15/11/06 11:01:24 PM |
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jefferson
* Posts: 18 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
2nd and final post. Added the lighting and shadows. My daughter requested the wallpaper be blue.  |
Posted on 16/11/06 03:04:45 AM |
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Steve Mac
Grunge Genie Posts: 539 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Neal, that was pretty dang funny man!  _________________ Steve Mac |
Posted on 16/11/06 12:48:03 PM |
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toby
Guest Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
I never was that keen on Lava lamps!  |
Posted on 16/11/06 1:33:37 PM |
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james
Surreal Spoofer Posts: 1194 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
With thank to Tom and Dave.  |
Posted on 16/11/06 9:00:24 PM |
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Babybiker
Shadow Spectaculator Posts: 151 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Decided to re-draw the whole lamp, using Dave's suggestion. Copying and flipping the selection makes life a lot easier! Tom, your metal and glass is great! How do you get the grain of the metal to follow the curve of the lamp?  |
Posted on 16/11/06 9:47:31 PM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 101 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Ran out of time on this one. Never mind.  _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 16/11/06 10:30:37 PM |
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Tom
Texture Technologist Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Thanks BB. The metal was made with three layers. I blended 2 into 3 with a layer mask. On a blank layer above, I drew a rectangle selection that was larger than the shape of 2 and 3. Filled with gray, added noise, then motion blur. With edit>transform> warp, I bent it a bit. With layer 1 activated, loaded a selection on layer 3. Invert>delete. Then changed the blend mode on layer 1 to overlay and lowered opacity.  |
Posted on 17/11/06 00:00:30 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Ben and Babybiker - lovely colours. Eggbox - great and funny idea. Neal - really clever Tom - simply beautiful Here is my effort .... ran out of time with what I wanted to do.  |
Posted on 17/11/06 00:05:18 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Oh dear I have posted it too wide so it is getting scrunched up, sorry.  |
Posted on 17/11/06 00:25:18 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Hope that's better. Sorry if I am wasting filespace.  |
Posted on 17/11/06 00:52:35 AM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1818 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Thanks to Tom I figured it out at last So here's my second attempt 
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Posted on 17/11/06 00:55:38 AM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1818 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
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Posted on 17/11/06 04:56:04 AM |
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jefferson
* Posts: 18 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
I was looking for warp but now realize I have CS and not CS2. I could not find another way to cause that nice little bend. Any ideas? |
Posted on 17/11/06 05:14:03 AM |
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Tom
Texture Technologist Posts: 401 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Rotate the layer 90 degrees and try filter>distort>shear. |
Posted on 17/11/06 08:32:50 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply  |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Some really supendous entries this week! It was a tricky one to do, as you discovered: you had to think about not just the lava itself, but the body of the lamp and the lighting. First to plug himself in was Dek_101, with some impressive green lihgting effects and a good sense of a glass container. Using Bevel and Emboss to create the shading was a good idea, Derrick, but for a job like this you really need to split the goo into multiple layers! And the base of the lamp is rather flat: it should be shaped as the bottom half of an ellipse, to match the perspective of the table. A very luminous image from Babybiker - and I agree, your wallpaper is much more in keeping with the spirit of the thing than my original was. I like the glow inside the goo, and the hint of a reflection on the table is good. Adding the power cord was a neat touch! Great chrome on the second entry - it really does make a huge difference. A rare animation from vibeke - but, hey, if ever a situation called for it, this is it. Changing the shape of the lava with Liquify was an interesting approach! Good multicoloured goo, and a well realized chrome container there. We could have done with some lighting - or t least shadow - on the background, wouldn't you say? Aha, there we go - it's on the second entry. I like the way the light pool changes size! "I don't have art in my veins," says 2bfree - but there's certainly something weird flowing through them. A good glass effect, though, particularly the way you've distorted the background as viewed through it. The power cord creeps off the table, but doesn't appear to reach a socket! Ah, the second entry - and what a huge improvement this is. Excellent! All we need now is a little shading around the edges of the scene. And, perhaps, that plug... Beautiful wall lighting from Ben Mills - really, that's gorgeous. I like the way the nearest blobs of goo are stronger in tone than those further back, it gives the piece a real sense of perspective. Great distorted background through the glass, as well, and a very good chrome effect. Great work, Ben! Some great chrome and lava from mguyer - but am I right in thinking that those elements are photographed, rather than drawn? And you seem to be peering through a red mist this week! A rather charming oil lamp from dave.cox, with a base that looks like it's been constructed entirely out of plastic wrap. Good flame, and agreat drawing of the lamp! Another fun-packed scene from char, whose lava lamp is surrounded by other historic relics. A great lamp, too, with a good chrome effect and glorious lighting. I love the plug, and the broken eggs - and the second entry really brings it to life! An extremely well realized entry from bluOrange, with a stunning lamp: excellent chrome, great laval, and a very fine light burst in the middle (with fine shading to match it). A very neat cable, too: only the cat seems slightly out of place here. Perhaps it's the lighting; perhaps it's the way that somehow it seems to be looking behind the lamp, rather than at it. I think a shadow of the cat on the wall might have helped here? Ah,, the Blue Lady... Sergeant Pepper... and that wallpaper... GKB's nostalgic entry left me feeling all reminiscent. Good reflections in both the pictures, there. The lava itself seems a little flat; perhaps more shading around the glass would help? A greatly improved second entry - cool chrome! Fabulous chrome and good gloops of goo from Glen, and an impressive glow on the wall behind. There seems to be rather a solid lump of goo waiting to melt in there - but the reflections on the glass make up for everything! Most touched by Eggbox's birthday card - however old I may really be! The gherkin from a few weeks back makes a great lamp, I agree. All we need now is some shading. Perhaps you should turn the lamp on? A great gag, and a very fine montage, from Neal: great explosion effects, and a very convicning burnt appearance to the table top. I like the cool smoke, too. But I can see why the lamp erupted: poor manufacturing. That lid's far too pixellated to make an effective seal. I love jefferson's book-built bookshelf - what a great idea! And while the thing on the table may look rather more like a jar of ectoplasm than a lava lamp, it's certainly an intriguing object. But I'm going to have to take you to task on the window! First, the angle is way off the perspective shown by the table (even if you have added a fifth leg); and second, when you distort a window frame, you really can't distort the view with it! Hmm.. not sure about your daughter's choice of wallpaper colour in the second entry - but better lighting! Great glowing goo, and a rather fine picture on the wall from Wayne. I'd boost the contrast on the chrome a touch there - but otherwise, this works rather well. Good extra touches: the reflection of the light in the table, and the hot spot of the bulb at the bottom. Truly gorgeous work from Tom, once again. The texture of the chrome and of the lava are wonderful: well worth checking out the detail to see this more clearly. Two things really set this entry apart: firstly, the extremely restrained colour space, which makes the blue of lamp really stand out; and secondly, the shading on the wall, which hints at a light source out of our view. It's a different approach, but it works! And many thanks for the tutorial, most helpful. Not just a great lamp, but a fantastic torn wallpaper effect from Deborah Morley. I like the dark patch on the wall with a pin in it, where a picture's been taken down! The trailing edge of the wallpaper looks a little to hard and angular to me: roughen it up with the Lasso, perhaps? Great shading, though (but the ladder could have cast a shadow). Perfect lava from Whaler, which really seems to glow due to its excellent shading. And reflecting the colours on the brushed chrome base works really well. The room seems rather gloomy, with such a dazzling light source! A huge lamp from michael sinclair, with a strong reflection in the marble floor. Good shading on the lava - but why does it have that pale fringe? The second entry is much better, and the man adds a good sense of scale. 
There is an issue with your curves though, Michael, which we need to look at. The perspectives are well judged - tricky, in a job like this - but remember that the top and, especially, the base of the lamp are circles viewed from an angle - in other words, ellipses. Yours are drawn as paths, with sharp points at the edges (1); really, the corners should bend seamlessly towards the vertical. Easiest way is to make an elliptical selection (2), shown here in QuickMask. Then, when it's filled with the chrome (3), we get a rather more convincing rounded shape. A very fancy base from Steve Mac, and good gloopy lava well lit from below. The glass container seems a little minimal here: a touch more highlight needed! An interesting design choice from Toby, who's given us a rather oriental-looking lamp. Good lava, particularly the way it's shaded at the bottom, and a very restrained glow around it. But shouldn't we have a hint of a light source in there? Some very well drawn lava from james, with a good spotlight at the bottom. The chrome has been well drawn, but that's just the first step: now you need to distort it to fit the shape of the lamp top and base! I never said this one was easy! Hmm... padded wallpaper... are you trying to hint at something here? Great distortion through the glass on j.harvatt's entry, with much better wallpaper as well. The lamp looks a bit, you know, bloody - perhaps that's why they rarely make lava lamps in red? Excellent lighting from BigVern, both inside the lamp and around it. A great chrome base, too - but watch those perspectives! I really like the blurring distortion seen through the glass, and the goo itself is very tasty. Good plug and socket! This was a really tricky one. Great work all round. |
Posted on 17/11/06 09:54:29 AM |
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rufus
Destructive Demon Posts: 243 Reply  |
Re: Contest 122: Let the lava flow
Steve, In your tutorial on creating the base I understand the eliptical selection but I don't get the rounded edge along the front like you have shown. Can you elaborate on this? rufus By the way when I send in a post the page hangs and I have to refresh it to continue, perhaps that is why you get double posts occasionally. |
Posted on 17/11/06 10:11:17 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply |
Re: Contest 122: Let the lava flow
When you use the Pen tool to create a path, it's too easy to make a hard corner where the base joins the vertical, as in Michael Sinclair's initial example. On an ellipse, however, the curve of the bottom goes exactly vertical on the midpoints of each side (the extreme left and right). This is where you should join the ellipse onto your object. In the example here, the sides bend in slightly, so in fact the ellipse needs to be very slightly lower. The idea is that the ellipse touches the sides of the object so that the object forms a tangent to the ellipse at that point. It's not a huge difference, but it does make for a more convincing curve! And as to the lag thing - yes, I'm aware of that. I'm considering changing the forum software to a different application that would work more smoothly. Watch this space! |
Posted on 17/11/06 10:23:56 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: Contest 123: Let the lava flow
Steve, many thanks for your kind remarks. If possible would you mind explaining where I have strayed on the perspective front. |
Posted on 17/11/06 12:48:40 PM |
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mguyer
Incisive Incisor Posts: 799 Reply  |
Re: Contest 122: Let the lava flow
As George Washington once said, "I cannot tell a lie..." Steve is correct, mine is a photograph. Cheating means cheating, right. |
Posted on 17/11/06 12:49:36 PM |
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mguyer
Incisive Incisor Posts: 799 Reply |
Re: Contest 122: Let the lava flow
As George Washington once said, "I cannot tell a lie..." Steve is correct, mine is a photograph. Cheating means cheating, right. |
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